Fitzpatrick felt he was playing well enough that there was no need to panic in the third round on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina on Saturday (local time).
One big swing with the driver, two shots holed from off the green - for birdie and eagle - and Fitzpatrick steadied himself for a three-under 68 to lead Scheffler by three shots going into Sunday.
Scheffler opened with five birdies in six holes to get back in the tournament, and closed with two birdies for a 64 that put him in the final group on Sunday.
"The bogeys that I made today, I didn't feel like I kind of hit it off the planet and I was scrambling and stuff," Fitzpatrick said.Â
"I just felt that they were holes that I didn't really make my par on, and I felt like I was making good enough swings to make a turnaround on the back nine. Obviously, some nice momentum with the hole-outs."
Scheffler finished by smashing a nine-iron from 196 yards with the wind at his back to 10 feet that briefly tied Fitzpatrick for the lead, just not for long.
Fitzpatrick rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt from off the green at the par-3 14th. He was right of the green on the par-5 15th and chipped in for eagle to restore the margin to three shots.
Fitzpatrick, the 2023 winner of the RBC Heritage, closed with three pars to reach 17-under 196.
He started another warm, breezy day with a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland (73), four clear of everyone else. Fitzpatrick goes into the final round with four players within four shots of the lead, starting with the No.1 player in the world.
"Good to be back in the tournament," Scheffler said. "I was a little bit behind the eight-ball going into today, but had a nice round to put myself back in position."
So did Brian Harman, who recovered from a slow start for the second straight week.
The former British Open champion opened with a 71 and had his best score ever at Harbour Town with a 63 that left him four behind along with Si Woo Kim (66) and Sepp Straka (67).
Scheffler, Harman and Kim each had at least a share of the lead at one point. Harman closed out his round by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 17th.
Min Woo Lee and Karl Vilips were the leading Australians, tied in 38th place at six under, 11 shots behind Fitzpatrick.
Lee carded his best round of the tournament with a four-under 67, while Vilips carded a one-under 70.
Jason Day had a one-over 72 in the third round to be one over for the tournament.
